As one of the most divisive US Election 2020 is just around the corner, a far-right Norwegian politician has proposed US President Donald Trump for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize. While talking to Fox News on September 9, Christian Tybring-Gjedde from Norwegia’s Progress Party cited Republican President’s work in encouraging peace deal between United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel. According to him, the committee should evaluate the “facts” and not on his behaviour sometimes and confessed that he not a big supporter of the Republican president but  “Donald Trump meets the criteria.”

Christian Tybring-Gjedde, who serves as the chair of the Norwegian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, said, “For his merit, I think he has done more trying to create peace between nations than most other peace prize nominees.”

“The committee should look at the facts and judge him on the facts – not on the way he behaves sometimes,” he added.

Who is Christian Tybring-Gjedde?

Christian Tybring-Gjedde was one of the two Norwegian lawmakers who had nominated Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize back in 2018 as well citing the US President’s efforts in reconciling relations between both the Koreas. These nominations can be made by any select group of people or organisations and in 2020, the committee had reportedly received 318 nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize, out of all 211 area individuals and 107 are organisations. 

Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to former US President Barack Obama in 2009, just two months after his first term in the White House had started. The far-right Norwegian lawmaker has been a member of Storting, the Norwegian Parliament, since 2005 and is known to be pro-Israel. He has proposed immigration policies that according to him are ‘too welcoming’. In 2006, Tybring-Gjedde had nominated Dutch-American activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali who is also a writer and politician critical of Islam. 

In several instances in the past, Christian Tybring-Gjedde has reportedly demanded the immigrants to adjust to Norwegian society and has called Muslim headscarves an “Islamic uniform” and have even compared the same to robes worn by the members of the Ku Klux Klan, an American white supremacist hate group.

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Trump ‘honoured’ to be nominated

Following the news, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, in a statement, said Donald Trump is “honoured” to be considered by the Nobel Committee for the Peace Prize. She also added that the peace deal prompting the Norwegian lawmaker to nominate US President is a testament of “bold diplomacy” and that the official signing ceremony of the UAE-Israel peace pack would take place on September 15.

The White House Press Secretary statement read, “Today, President Donald J. Trump was nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership in brokering the Abraham Accords, bringing about the full normalisation of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and marking a major step toward a more peaceful the Middle East. This peace deal is a testament to the bold diplomacy and vision of President Trump, and he is honoured to be considered by the Nobel Committee. President Trump will host the Israeli and Emirati delegations for a signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords on September 15 at the White House”. 

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(With AP inputs)